Taittiriya Upanishad Bhashya Vartika
by R. Balasubramanian | 151,292 words | ISBN-10: 8185208115 | ISBN-13: 9788185208114
The English translation of Sureshvara’s Taittiriya Vartika, which is a commentary on Shankara’s Bhashya on the Taittiriya Upanishad. Taittiriya Vartika contains a further explanation of the words of Shankara-Acharya, the famous commentator who wrote many texts belonging to Advaita-Vedanta. Sureshvaracharya was his direct disciple and lived in the 9...
Verse 2.20
Sanskrit text and transliteration:
कर्तुः कर्माणि कार्यार्थमनात्मफलदानि हि ।
पुरोक्तानि यतो नासावन्यथाऽतः प्रवर्तते ॥ २० ॥
kartuḥ karmāṇi kāryārthamanātmaphaladāni hi |
puroktāni yato nāsāvanyathā'taḥ pravartate || 20 ||
English translation of verse 2.20:
Since the rites mentioned earlier (in the ritual section) yield, indeed, to the doer a fruit which is not-Self, a person (who desires liberation) does not, therefore, proceed in a different way.
Notes:
The performance of karma as taught in the ritual section leads to a fruit such as heaven which is different from the Self and which is perishable. Liberation is not what is to be accomplished through karma. A seeker after liberation will not proceed in the direction of karma, but will pursue Brahman-knowledge.